Mom was driving the family's brand new maroon 1988 Toyota Corolla to the summit as Dad laid down in the passenger seat, nauseous from nerves. The
combination of dirt roads, no guardrails, and sickening drop-offs just inches away from the outside tires was too much. That was at a leisurely 25 miles
per hour in a hundred horsepower Corolla. I was nine and that was the last time I set foot on Pikes Peak. Now, I'm sitting shotgun in a supercharged 2014
Range Rover Sport with three-time overall Pikes Peak International Hill Climb champion Paul Dallenbach gripping the steering wheel. We're idling at the
starting line of the hill climb course.

Pikes is not like other tracks. Danger is implied in all forms of racing, but on this course it's damn near the suicidal level. The 12.42 mile distance and
156 turns make it complex to learn, but it's the 4720-foot climb from the start to the summit that make it more dangerous than any track on the planet. Two
drivers have died here since the first race in 1916, but don't let that figure fool you, that sum has more to do with backing off at the limit out of
self-preservation.

"You have to respect the mountain," says Dallenbach, "I think if you drive at 100% you're going to crash, you never know what's up ahead. If someone says
they're going 10/10ths they're lying or foolhardy."

Until 2011 the course was a mix of paved and dirt surfaces, and there were certainly no guardrails. The course was finally paved at that point amidst quite
a bit of controversy. Purists claimed that it was against tradition and there were concerns that paving would bring much higher speeds and deadlier
accidents. Misplace a tire at dozens of spots and it's a 2000-foot tumble down near-vertical rock-strewn mountainside. Evacuation means being carried off
the mountainside, dumped into an ambulance, and taken down to the waiting life flight. Medevac flights can't go past the 11,000-foot mark, which coincides
with the end of the relatively easy and safe first third of the course.

"About a year ago I had a really bad crash here," says Dallenbach, "Driving our 1400 hp unlimited car through the first section, my throttle stuck and I
hit the tree line at 130 mph. The skid marks are still there. I've been wondering if I'd lift at that spot, I didn't."

The horrifying offs aren't the only cog in the wheel of terror either. From the starting line to the summit the weather can change dramatically. Drastic
temperature variations mean that even in June there are sections of sheet ice across the road in the mornings. Wind blasting up the side of the mountain
rocks the car and the asphalt heaves and drops from a constant freeze-thaw cycle. The atmospheric oxygen level steadily decreases as you close in on the
14,110-foot summit meaning both you and the car are out of breath and down on power by the time the finish line is crossed.

So what is this all about? Setting a new record … or rather, establishing one. Land Rover wants to make a splash with its all-new 2014 Range Rover
Sport model-you know, the one that's swapped for all-aluminum construction and drops 800 pounds, retains the 510 hp supercharged V8, and gains an eight
speed ZF transmission, fully independent adaptable suspension, and massive Brembo brakes. She goes like stink- 5.0 seconds to 60 mph- but then again it
better for a price tag around $93,000. Today I'm being shown how fast it goes up a mountain. Dallenbach had been given a job by Land Rover: Set a timed
record for Production SUVs. The record did not exist two days ago, so a Honda CR-V could have pulled it off, but that's not the point. The point was to go
very fast up a very big hill and try to avoid bad things.

Aside from a custom six-point roll cage this SUV is bone stock. Traction control off, suspension set to "Dynamic," transmission duties are handed over to
the paddle shifters, and that's the entire set up. I fiddle with the around-vehicle cameras and activate the downward-facing set in the wing mirrors so I
can watch wheel placement. Paul stabs the throttle and we're off, taking every advantage of the massive contact patches. The truck is almost disturbingly
neutral, even pushing hard through the switchbacks Paul is impressed by its poise. I'm impressed that my breakfast burrito isn't coming up. Corners aren't
the issue, it's the constant loss of steady gravity, like being in a plane experiencing heavy turbulence. The engine is superbly matched to the
environment, with the supercharger stuffing increasingly rare oxygen molecules into the combustion chambers.

Charging out of the corners is undramatic thanks to the all-wheel-drive system, but charging into them is hair-raising. Downshifts save the brakes and set
the car up properly, but the empty space past the edge gets the adrenaline pumping. The course is punishing at points. The almost new asphalt gets a lot of
abuse, and dips that weren't here last year force adjustments to driving lines. At some point past the tree line, sensory overload kicks in and the rock
walls become a blur. Paul has been racing here for 14 years starting in a Cutlass Calais with a wheezy Quad Four and working up to open wheel cars. He's
considered one of the best. He works the curbs and corners and banks with a ritualistic perfection.

The finish line at the top is spartan-a few Jersey barriers and transponder cables buried in the pavement. A lone track official ceremoniously waves a
checker flag and the car comes to a stop in a whiff of dust. Legs are a bit wobbly from the ride on a pavement roller coaster as well as the oxygen
deprivation.

Dallenbach made the run alone yesterday and set a time of 12:35.61, which for those counting is a shade over 60 seconds a mile on average. Record
established. The curious part is that in a backwards way, this time also breaks a record-Pikes Peak Production. In 1989 Rod Millen set a time of 12:43.7 in
a Mazda MX6 (of all things) and the group hasn't been run since then so the record still stands. When I told Dallenbach this he seemed incredulous. "I
can't imagine Porsche will let that rest" was his immediate response, and that does bring up an interesting point. With the entire route now paved, and a
Range Rover setting the production vehicle record, do other manufacturers come calling? Everybody knows who's beaten who at Nurburgring but the charm is
wearing thin. It would be quite the spectacle for a Pikes Peak time to become 'the next big thing' in bragging rights. For now it belongs to the Brits.